Operating device

ABSTRACT

Provided is an operation device which allows various kinds of operation information to be input to a main body thereof as needed without unnecessarily increasing the weight of the operation device. The operation device includes: the main body having a shape elongated from one end to another end; a light emitting member provided to the one end of the main body; and a connection portion provided to the other end of the main body, to which an arbitrary one of a plurality of other operation devices is to be connected.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an operation device, and moreparticularly, to an operation device including a light emitting memberwhose image is to be captured by a camera.

BACKGROUND ART

There is proposed a system (information processing system) in which,when an operation device having alight emitting member (light emittingportion) provided to a tip end of a stick-like main body is moved infront of a camera, the position of the light emitting member isrecognized in a captured image by a game machine main body (informationprocessing apparatus) connected to the camera, and, based on theposition, execution of a program such as a game is controlled (seePatent Literature 1 below). According to such a system, by moving theposition of the light emitting member of the operation device, it ispossible to perform such control that moves the position of a cursor,the position of an object in a virtual game space, and the like, therebyenabling a remarkably intuitive user interface to be realized.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

Patent Document 1: US 2007/0117625 A1

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, various kinds ofinformation other than the position of the light emitting member cannotbe input to the game machine main body by us ing the operation device.To address this, it is conceivable to integrally provide, to theoperation device, a plurality of operation members, such as a microphonefor inputting a voice of a player, and a stick-like member for inputtinga direction. However, by doing so, the weight of the operation deviceincreases due to such functions that are not necessarily used at alltimes. Consequently, the position of the light emitting member cannot bemoved smoothly.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, it is conceivable torecognize a distance between the camera and the light emitting memberbased on the size of a region of the imaged light emitting member in thecaptured image. In this case, the size of the region of the imaged lightemitting member in the captured image varies depending on the brightnessof a background of the light emitting member in the captured image.Specifically, if the background is bright, the light emitting member isimaged smaller due to an influence from light in its surroundings.Conversely, if the background is dark, the light emitting member isimaged larger. For this reason, in the case where the distance betweenthe camera and the light emitting member is recognized based on the sizeof the region of the imaged light emitting member in the captured image,there is a problem that a false recognition may occur.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is a case where aplurality of operation devices are communicably connected to theinformation processing apparatus. With this, a plurality of users canrespectively perform operation input with respect to the informationprocessing apparatus. However, in a case where such a configuration isadopted, the user may lose track of which operation device he/she wasusing after temporarily removing his/her hand from the operation devicewhich the user was using. In order to avoid such a problem, it isconceivable that the operation devices are each provided with anindicator or the like which displays information for distinguishing fromthe other operation devices. A specific example of such information is,for example, a logical number (port number) assigned by the informationprocessing apparatus. However, there is a fear that such an indicationas the indicator may cause a false detection when detecting the positionof the operation device based on the light from the light emittingmember.

Further, for the above-mentioned prior art, there is a demand from theuser of the operation device that the user be able to check as neededvarious kinds of device states, such as the charge state of arechargeable battery built in the operation device. However, if anindicator or the like which displays such a device state is provided tothe operation device, there is a fear that the indication of theindicator or the like may cause a false detection when detecting theposition of the operation device based on the light from the lightemitting member.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentionedproblems, and an object thereof is to provide an operation device whichallows various kinds of operation information to be input to a main bodythereof as needed without unnecessarily increasing the weight of theoperation device.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide anoperation device for which the size of a light emitting member isaccurately imaged by a camera, regardless of the brightness of abackground.

Further, still another object of the present invention is to provide aninformation processing system which enables a user to easily make adiscrimination among a plurality of operation devices, and also toprovide an operation device, an information processing apparatus, acontrol method therefor, and an information storage medium.

Further, still another object of the present invention is to provide aninformation processing system which enables a user to easily recognize adevice state of an operation device, and also to provide an operationdevice, an information processing apparatus, a control method therefor,and an information storage medium.

Means for Solving the Problems

An operation device according to one aspect of the present inventionincludes: a main body having a shape elongated from one end to anotherend; a light emitting member provided to the one end of the main body;and a connection portion provided to the other end of the main body, towhich an arbitrary one of a plurality of other operation devices is tobe connected. The operation device may include a plurality of additionaloperation modules each provided with an input member for inputtinginformation.

Further, one of the plurality of additional operation modules mayinclude: a portion to be connected to the connection portion; and anadditional connection portion, which is provided to an opposite side tothe portion to be connected, and has the same shape as the connectionportion of the main body so that another one of the plurality ofadditional operation modules is to be connected thereto in series.

In this case, each of the plurality of additional operation modules mayinclude identification information storing means for storingidentification information for identifying a type of the additionaloperation module. In addition, the main body may include identificationinformation acquiring means for acquiring the identification informationfrom the identification information storing means included in each ofthe plurality of additional operation modules connected directly orindirectly to the main body.

Further, the main body may include order discriminating means fordiscriminating an order of the additional operation modules connected tothe main body in series. Each of the plurality of additional operationmodules may include: a signal line to be connected in series when theplurality of additional operation modules are connected to the main bodyin series; and a voltmeter for measuring a voltage at a predeterminedposition on the signal line. In addition, the main body may include apower source for applying, from one end side thereof, a predeterminedvoltage to the signal lines connected in series. In this case, the orderdiscriminating means may discriminate the order of the additionaloperation module connected to the main body in series, based on thevoltage measured by each of the voltmeters.

Further, one of the plurality of additional operation modules mayinclude, between a portion to be connected to the connection portion andthe input member, a rotation mechanism for changing a direction of theinput member with respect to the main body. Alternatively, one of theplurality of additional operation modules may be configured to connectto the main body or another one of the plurality of additional operationmodules in a plurality of directions.

The operation device may further include determination means fordetermining the direction of the input member provided to the one of theplurality of additional operation modules. For example, the one of theplurality of additional operation modules may include a sensor fordetecting a posture of the one of the plurality of additional operationmodules, and the main body may include a sensor for detecting a postureof the main body. In this case, the determination means may determinethe direction of the input member provided to the one of the pluralityof additional operation modules with respect to the main body, based ona result of the detection by the sensor included in the main body and aresult of the detection by the sensor included in the one of theplurality of additional operation modules.

Further, an operation device according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes: a light emitting element; an inner shell, which isformed in a hollow shape with a light diffusive material which diffuseslight emitted from the light emitting element, and is provided at aposition at which the inner shell receives the light emitted from thelight emitting element; and an outer shell being colored andtranslucent, which covers an outer side of the inner shell. A surface ofthe outer shell may have a low reflection film formed thereon. Inaddition, the outer shell may be integrally formed with an engagementmechanism to the main body.

Further, an information processing system according to one aspect of thepresent invention includes: a plurality of operation devices eachincluding a light emitting portion; and an information processingapparatus to be communicably connected to the plurality of operationdevices, in which the information processing apparatus includes:detection means for detecting light emitted from the light emittingportion; and position identifying means for identifying a position ofeach of the plurality of operation devices based on a position of thedetected light, and each of the plurality of operation devices causesthe light emitting portion to emit the light with a different lightemission color.

In the information processing system, the information processingapparatus may assign, to each of the plurality of operation devicescommunicably connected thereto, a logical number for identifying each ofthe plurality of operation devices, and each of the plurality ofoperation devices may cause the light emitting portion to emit the lightwith the light emission color determined based on the logical numberassigned to the operation device.

Further, in the information processing system, the informationprocessing apparatus may further include light emission control meansfor presenting candidates for the light emission color to a user of oneof the plurality of operation devices, and transmitting, to the one ofthe plurality of operation devices, an instruction to cause the lightemitting portion of the one of the plurality of operation devices heldby the user to emit the light with a color selected by the user fromamong the candidates for the light emission color, and the one of theplurality of operation devices may cause the light emitting portion toemit the light with the color corresponding to the transmittedinstruction.

In addition, the light emission control means may exclude a lightemission color of another one of the plurality of operation devices fromthe candidates for the light emission color to be presented.

Further, an operation device according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes a light emitting portion and is to be communicablyconnected to an information processing apparatus, in which light emittedfrom the light emitting portion is used by the information processingapparatus so as to identify a position of the operation device, and thelight emitting portion emits the light with a light emission colordifferent from a light emission color of another operation deviceconnected to the information processing apparatus.

Further, an information processing apparatus according to one aspect ofthe present invention is to be communicably connected to a plurality ofoperation devices each including a light emitting portion, and includes:detection means for detecting light emitted from the light emittingportion; position identifying means for identifying a position of eachof the plurality of operation devices based on a position of thedetected light; and light emission control means for causing the lightemitting portion of each of the plurality of operation devices to emitthe light with a different light emission color.

Further, a control method for an information processing apparatusaccording to one aspect of the present invention, which is to becommunicably connected to a plurality of operation devices eachincluding a light emitting portion, includes: detecting light emittedfrom the light emitting portion; identifying a position of each of theplurality of operation devices based on a position of the detectedlight; and causing the light emitting portion of each of the pluralityof operation devices to emit the light with a different light emissioncolor.

Further, a computer-readable information storage medium according to oneaspect of the present invention has a program stored therein, theprogram causing an information processing apparatus, which is to becommunicably connected to a plurality of operation devices eachincluding a light emitting portion, and includes detection means fordetecting light emitted from the light emitting portion, to function as:position identifying means for identifying a position of each of theplurality of operation devices based on a position of the detectedlight; and light emission control means for causing the light emittingportion of each of the plurality of operation devices to emit the lightwith a different light emission color.

Further, an information processing system according to one aspect of thepresent invention includes: an operation device including a lightemitting portion; and an information processing apparatus, in which theinformation processing apparatus includes: detection means for detectinglight emitted from the light emitting portion; and position identifyingmeans for identifying a position of the operation device based on aposition of the detected light, and the operation device changes a lightemission mode of the light emitting portion in accordance with a devicestate of the operation device.

In the information processing system, the operation device may changethe light emission mode of the light emitting portion in accordance witha charge state of a rechargeable battery built in the operation device.

Further, the operation device may change a light emission color of thelight emitting portion when a remaining charge of the rechargeablebattery has fallen below a predetermined threshold.

In addition, in the information processing system, the operation devicemay cause, in accordance with an instruction from a user, the lightemitting portion to emit the light in a mode corresponding to the chargestate of the rechargeable battery.

Further, an operation device according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes a light emitting portion, in which light emitted fromthe light emitting portion is used by an information processingapparatus so as to identify a position of the operation device, and alight emission mode of the light emitting portion is changed inaccordance with a device state of the operation device.

Further, an information processing apparatus according to one aspect ofthe present invention is to be communicably connected to an operationdevice including a light emitting portion, and includes: detection meansfor detecting light emitted from the light emitting portion; positionidentifying means for identifying a position of the operation devicebased on a position of the detected light; means for acquiring a devicestate of the operation device; and light emission control means forchanging a light emission mode of the light emitting portion inaccordance with the acquired device state of the operation device.

Further, a control method for an information processing apparatusaccording to one aspect of the present invention, which is to becommunicably connected to an operation device including a light emittingportion, includes: detecting light emitted from the light emittingportion; identifying a position of the operation device based on aposition of the detected light; acquiring a device state of theoperation device; and changing a light emission mode of the lightemitting portion in accordance with the acquired device state of theoperation device.

Further, a computer-readable information storage medium according to oneaspect of the present invention has a program stored therein, theprogram causing an information processing apparatus, which is to becommunicably connected to an operation device including a light emittingportion, and includes detection means for detecting light emitted fromthe light emitting portion, to function as: position identifying meansfor identifying a position of the operation device based on a positionof the detected light; means for acquiring a device state of theoperation device; and light emission control means for changing a lightemission mode of the light emitting portion in accordance with theacquired device state of the operation device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A diagram illustrating a situation in which game operationinformation is input by using an operation device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 A configuration diagram of a game system.

FIG. 3 A diagram illustrating a captured image obtained by a camera.

FIG. 4 A diagram illustrating position recognition processing.

FIG. 5 A front view of the operation device.

FIG. 6 A side view of the operation device.

FIG. 7 A bottom view of the operation device.

FIG. 8 A partial sectional view illustrating a light emitting memberportion of the operation device.

FIG. 9 A perspective view illustrating a first additional operationmodule viewed from a front direction.

FIG. 10 A perspective view illustrating the first additional operationmodule viewed from a back direction.

FIG. 11 A diagram illustrating a state in which the first additionaloperation module is mounted in a normal manner.

FIG. 12 A diagram illustrating a state in which the first additionaloperation module is mounted in a reversed manner.

FIG. 13 A perspective view illustrating a second additional operationmodule viewed from the front direction.

FIG. 14 A diagram illustrating a state in which the second additionaloperation module is mounted in a normal manner.

FIG. 15 A perspective view illustrating a third additional operationmodule viewed from the front direction.

FIG. 16 A diagram illustrating a state in which the third additionaloperation module is mounted in a normal manner.

FIG. 17 An outer appearance perspective view of an operation deviceaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 A perspective view illustrating a light emitting module.

FIG. 19 A perspective view illustrating a main body module.

FIG. 20 A perspective view illustrating a first additional operationmodule.

FIG. 21 A perspective view illustrating a second additional operationmodule.

FIG. 22 A diagram illustrating a state in which the modules areconnected in another mode.

FIG. 23 A diagram illustrating a state in which the modules areconnected in still another mode.

FIG. 24 A diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the modules ofthe operation device.

FIG. 25 A schematic diagram of an information processing systemaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 A configuration block diagram illustrating a configurationexample of an information processing apparatus according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27A A front view of an operation device.

FIG. 27B A bottom view of the operation device.

FIG. 28 A configuration block diagram illustrating an internalconfiguration example of the operation device.

FIG. 29 A functional block diagram illustrating a function example ofthe information processing apparatus.

FIG. 30 A diagram illustrating an example of a light emission colormanagement table.

FIG. 31 A diagram illustrating an example of a device light emissioncolor correspondence table.

FIG. 32 A diagram illustrating an example of a presentation screen ofselection candidates for a light emission color.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinbelow, embodiments of the present invention are described indetail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a use situation of a game systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention. As illustratedin the figure, a game system 10 includes a game machine main body 16connected to a consumer television set 12, a camera 14 connected to thegame machine main body 16, and an operation device 18 to be held by aplayer P with his/her hand. The game machine main body 16 is apublicly-known computer game system. The camera 14 is placed on, forexample, a top surface of the television set 12 so as to capture animage of a front of the television set 12. A captured image obtained bythe camera 14 is input to the game machine main body 16 and used thereinfor various kinds of information processing. A light emitting member 20which emits particular color light is engaged to the tip of theoperation device 18. When the player P holds and moves the operationdevice 18 in front of the camera 14, the game machine main body 16recognizes the position of the light emitting member 20 in the capturedimage obtained by the camera 14, and also, based on the size of a regionof the imaged light emitting member 20, recognizes a distance betweenthe camera 14 and the light emitting member 20. Then, based on thosepieces of information, processing for an application such as a game iscontrolled.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the game machine main body 16includes a position recognizing section 16 a, an application processingsection 16 b, and a communication section 16 c. The position recognizingsection 16 a and the application processing section 16 b are implementedby executing a predetermined program in the game machine main body 16being the computer game system. As illustrated in the figure, an imagecaptured by the camera 14, for example, such an image as illustrated inFIG. 3, is supplied to the position recognizing section 16 a. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the position recognizing section 16 a extractsthe region of the imaged light emitting member 20 from the suppliedimage, and acquires coordinates (X, Y) of a center position of the lightemitting member 20 in the image. Further, the position recognizingsection 16 a calculates the area of the region of the imaged lightemitting member 20, to thereby determine, based on the area, thedistance between the camera 14 and the light emitting member 20. Forexample, if a relational expression between the area of the region andthe distance to the light emitting member 20 is stored, the distance maybe determined based on the relational expression.

The center position coordinates (X, Y) of the light emitting member 20in the captured image and the distance between the camera 14 and thelight emitting member 20 obtained in the above-mentioned manner aresupplied to the application processing section 16 b. The applicationprocessing section 16 b uses those pieces of information so as to, forexample, cause the position of a cursor displayed on a screen of thetelevision set 12 to move, or cause the position of an object disposedin a virtual game space to move. Note that, the operation device 18 isalso provided with conventional operation members such as buttons, andthe contents of operations performed with respect to those members aretransmitted to the game machine main body 16 with the use of wirelesscommunication means. On the other hand, the game machine main body 16 isprovided with the communication section 16 c for performing wirelesscommunication to the operation device 18, and the application processingsection 16 b controls various applications such as a game by also usingthe contents of operations received by the communication section 16 c.The application processing section 16 b generates a display image inaccordance with the processing for the application, and the displayimage is then displayed by the television set 12.

Next, the operation device 18 is described in detail. FIG. 5, FIG. 6,and FIG. 7 are a front view, a side view, and a bottom view of theoperation device 18. As illustrated in those figures, the operationdevice 18 includes a main body 31 in a substantially cylindrical shapewhich is elongated from one end toward the other end, and the one endside is provided with the light emitting member 20. The light emittingmember 20 is constituted mainly by a light diffusive resin having asubstantially spherical shell shape and a light emitting element forirradiating the resin with light. Further, the other end side of themain body 31 is provided with connection (coupling) structure includinga connector 28 for performing data communication to another additionaloperation module. The connection structure includes, specifically, anaccommodating recess portion 29 provided to the surface of the other endof the main body 31, and the female connector 28 provided to the centerof the bottom of the accommodating recess portion 29. In order for apart of another additional operation module to be accommodated into theaccommodating recess portion 29, the accommodating recess portion 29 isformed to have substantially the same shape as the part of the otheradditional operation module, and is provided with, on the periphery ofits opening, fit-engagement portions 30 f and 30 b, which are notches tobe fit-engaged with two fit-engagement pieces (portions to be fitted)provided to the other additional operation module. The fit-engagementportions 30 f and 30 b are provided on the front side and the back sideof the main body 31. A surface of the main body 31 is provided withbuttons 21 to 27. As described above, information indicating whether ornot the buttons 21 to 27 are depressed is transmitted to the gamemachine main body 16 through the wireless communication means.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the inside of the main body 31 is providedwith a control unit 32, a vibration motor 33, an acceleration sensor 34,a gyroscope 35, a magnetic sensor 36, and the connector 28. The controlunit 32 is constituted mainly by a publicly-known CPU and wireless datacommunication means, and detection contents from the acceleration sensor34, the gyroscope 35, and the magnetic sensor 36 are input to thecontrol unit 32. The acceleration sensor 34 is, for example, athree-axis acceleration sensor which detects respective accelerations(including gravitational acceleration) in an elongating direction (axialdirection (first axis)), in a front direction (second axis), and in alateral direction (third axis) of the main body 31, and outputs thosevalues. The gyroscope 35 is a three-axis gyroscope which detectsrotational speeds of the main body 31 about the above-mentioned first tothird axes. The magnetic sensor 36 is means for detecting theorientation of the Earth's magnetic field. The control unit 32 transmitsthe detection contents from those sensors to the game machine main body16, and the game machine main body 16 determines the movement, theposture, and the position of the operation device 18 based on thedetection contents from those sensors. The control unit 32 suppliesdrive power to the vibration motor 33. The control unit 32 causesoperation of the vibration motor 33 to start or stop, in accordance witha control signal transmitted by wireless from the game machine main body16 or in an autonomous manner. The control unit 32 also supplies drivepower to the light emitting member 20. Similarly, the control unit 32causes light emission of the light emitting member 20 to start or stop,in accordance with a control signal transmitted by wireless from thegame machine main body 16 or in an autonomous manner. Further, in a casewhere the light emitting member 20 is configured to be able to emitlight having an arbitrary color as described below, the control unit 32also performs control on the color of light emission performed by thelight emitting member 20. The connector 28 is also connected to thecontrol unit 32, and the content of an operation performed on theadditional operation module is input via the connector 28. The contentof such an operation is also transmitted by wireless to the game machinemain body 16. In this case, the additional operation module storesidentification information for identifying the type of the additionaloperation module, and the identification information is read by thecontrol unit 32. Then, the identification information is alsotransmitted by wireless to the game machine main body 16. With theabove-mentioned configuration, the game machine main body 16 candetermine what type of the additional operation module is connected tothe operation device 18, and what operation has been performed withrespect to that additional operation module.

Next, FIG. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the lightemitting member 20. As illustrated in the figure, the light emittingmember 20 includes a spherical shell shape portion having double-layerstructure of an inner shell and an outer shell, and a light emittingelement 73 provided adjacent to the spherical shell portion. The outershell of the spherical shell shape portion is constituted by a tip endside outer shell portion 70 a, which is positioned on the tip end sideof the operation device 18 and is formed in a semispherical shell shapeopening toward the base end side, and a base end side outer shellportion 70 b, which is positioned on the base end side of the operationdevice 18 and is formed in a semispherical shell shape opening towardthe tip end side. A circular hole is opened in a bottom portion of thebase end side outer shell portion 70 b, and, around the hole, there isprovided an engagement mechanism 75, which is a cylindrically-shapedwall extending toward the main body 31. An outer circumferential surfaceof the engagement mechanism 75 has a thread groove formed therein. A topsurface of the main body 31 has an opening formed therein, and theopening is covered with a support base 76. At the center of the supportbase 76, an opening is formed, and, around the opening, there isprovided a receiving mechanism 77, which is a cylindrically-shaped wallextending toward the inside of the main body 31. An innercircumferential surface of the receiving mechanism 77 has a threadgroove formed therein, and this thread groove and the thread grooveformed in the outer circumferential surface of the engagement mechanism75 are screwed together. In this manner, the light emitting member 20 isengaged on the top surface of the main body 31.

A circuit board 74 mounting the light emitting element 73 is mounted tothe inside of the engagement mechanism 75. The light emitting element 73is constituted by, for example, an LED. The irradiation of light isperformed by the light emitting element 73 from the circular hole openedin the bottom portion of the base end side outer shell portion 70 btoward the center of the spherical shell. Note that, the light emittingelement 73 may include a plurality of LEDs for emitting light beamshaving different colors. In this case, the control unit 32 controls alight emission timing and the light emission color.

On the other hand, the inner shell is configured by a tip end side innershell portion 71 a, which is positioned on the tip end side of theoperation device 18 and is formed in a semispherical shell shape openingtoward the base end side, and a base end side inner shell portion 71 b,which is positioned on the base end side of the operation device 18 andis formed in a semispherical shell shape opening toward the tip endside. The outside diameter of the inner shell and the inside diameter ofthe outer shell are substantially the same, and are in close contactwith each other. The base end side inner shell portion 71 b has a lightreceiving portion 72 formed, as a recess, in a bottom portion of theouter surface thereof. The light emitting element 73 directly faces thelight receiving portion 72, and hence light emitted from the lightemitting element 73 efficiently enters the inner shell.

The tip end side inner shell portion 71 a and the base end side innershell portion 71 b constituting the inner shell are both formed of aresin material having a light diffusion function. An example of thisresin material is such a material that is obtained by filling atransparent resin, such as polycarbonate, with numerous minute resinpieces similarly formed of a resin, such as polycarbonate, forreflecting light. On the other hand, the tip end side outer shellportion 70 a and the base end side outer shell portion 70 b constitutingthe outer shell are both formed of a translucent resin material havingan achromatic color or a chromatic color. An example of this resinmaterial is polycarbonate. In this description, as the resin material ofthe outer shell, a translucent material having a dark gray color isused. Further, the outer surface of the outer shell is subjected tomirror finishing, and is also coated with a low reflection film.

Light emitted from the light emitting element 73 enters the inner shellthrough the light receiving portion 72 and is then diffused inside theinner shell. Then, the light is radially emitted from the outer surfaceof the inner shell. After being slightly attenuated in the outer shell,the light is radially emitted to the outside. With this structure, thelight emitting element 73 disposed on the top surface side of the mainbody 31 can cause the light to be emitted from the whole surface of thelight emitting member 20 having a spherical shape. On this occasion,owing to the double-layer structure constituted by the inner shell andthe outer shell, and to the fact that the respective shells are formedof the above-mentioned materials, when the light emitting member 20 iscaptured by the camera 14, a colored and translucent outer shell appearsclearly in an edge portion of the region of the imaged light emittingmember 20 in the captured image. Therefore, it is possible to accuratelyrecognize the size of the region of the imaged light emitting member 20.

Next, description is given of the additional operation module mounted tothe base end side of the main body 31. FIG. 9 is a perspective viewillustrating a first additional operation module viewed from the frontdirection. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the same deviceviewed from a back direction. FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a state inwhich the same device is mounted in a normal direction with respect tothe main body 31, whereas FIG. 12 is a view illustrating a state inwhich the same device is mounted in a reversed direction. A firstadditional operation module 40 has a microphone built therein, and isused for the player P to input a voice. The first additional operationmodule 40 is provided with a portion 41 to be accommodated, which has asubstantially cylindrical shape. A lower edge on the front side of theportion 41 to be accommodated is provided with a portion 43 f to befitted, which protrudes in a forward direction, and a lower edge on theback side thereof is provided with a portion 43 b to be fitted, whichprotrudes in a backward direction. In the portion 43 f to be fitted,there is formed a small hole for picking up thereinto the voice of theplayer P. The outside diameter of the portion 41 to be accommodated isalmost the same as the inside diameter of the accommodating recessportion 29 of the main body 31, and the portion 41 to be accommodated isthus accommodated into the accommodating recess portion 29. On thisoccasion, the portions 43 f and 43 b to be fitted are fit-engaged withthe fit-engagement portions 30 f and 30 b, respectively. A connector 42is mounted on the top surface of the portion 41 to be accommodated, andthe connector 42 is to be inserted into the connector 28 on the mainbody 31 side. The portions 43 f and 43 b to be fitted have the sameouter shape, and the fit-engagement portions 30 f and 30 b have the sameouter shape as well. In addition, the portions to be fitted and thefit-engagement portions have such shapes that correspond to each other.Further, the connectors 28 and 42 are capable of electrical connectioneven when connected in a back to front manner. Therefore, the firstadditional operation module 40 can be mounted to the main body 31 inboth of the following states: a normal mounting state in which theportion 43 f to be fitted is fit-engaged with the fit-engagement portion30 f provided on the front side of the main body 31 as illustrated inFIG. 11; and a reversed mounting state in which the portion 43 b to befitted is fit-engaged with the fit-engagement portion 30 f provided onthe front side of the main body 31 as illustrated in FIG. 12. The firstadditional operation module 40 has an acceleration sensor 47 builttherein, and the detection content of the acceleration sensor 47 istransmitted to the control unit 32, and further to the game machine mainbody 16. The game machine main body 16 also receives the detectioncontent of the acceleration sensor 34 of the main body 31, and thus, bycomparing the detection contents, can determine whether the firstadditional operation module is in the normal mounting state or thereversed mounting state. With the above-mentioned structure, a widevariety of uses of the operation device 18 can be realized.

Next, FIG. 13 illustrates a second additional operation module, which isanother type of the additional operation module. Further, FIG. 14illustrates a state in which the second additional operation module ismounted to the main body 31 in the normal direction. The secondadditional operation module 50 includes a portion 51 to be accommodatedin a cylindrical shape, which is to be accommodated into theaccommodating recess portion 29, a connector 52 mounted onto the topsurface thereof, and an extension portion 54, which coaxially extendsfrom the lower surface of the portion 51 to be accommodated and has acylindrical shape with a larger diameter than that of the portion 51 tobe accommodated. The portion 51 to be accommodated is provided withportions 53 to be fitted, which are to be fit-engaged with thefit-engagement portions 30 f and 30 b. Further, an operation member 55for inputting directions is mounted to the front of the extensionportion 54.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the second additional operation module 50,too, can be mounted to the base end portion of the main body 31 insteadof the first additional operation module 40. Further, similarly to thefirst additional operation module 40, the second additional operationmodule 50 is capable of the normal direction mounting and the reverseddirection mounting with respect to the main body 31. In this case, too,by comparing the detection content of the acceleration sensor 34 of themain body 31 with the detection content of an acceleration sensor 57built in the second additional operation module 50, the game machinemain body 16 can determine whether the second additional operationmodule 50 is in the normal mounting state or in the reversed mountingstate. With such structure as described above in which an arbitrary oneof a plurality of types of the additional operation modules can bemounted to the main body 31, it is possible to reduce the weight of theoperation device 18 as compared to a case where operation members ofsuch types that are not usually used are provided integrally to the mainbody 31 from the beginning. With this, the player P can operate theoperation device 18 with little effort.

Note that, instead of providing the structure capable of the normaldirection mounting and the reversed direction mounting with respect tothe main body 31 like the first additional operation module 40 and thesecond additional operation module 50, a rotation mechanism may beprovided so as to cause a portion of the additional operation modulewhich is provided with the operation member to rotate. Specifically,like a third additional operation module 60 illustrated in FIG. 15 andFIG. 16, the following structure may be provided. That is, a portion 61to be accommodated and an extension portion 64 having a larger diameterthan that of the portion 61 to be accommodated are formed integrally.The portion 61 to be accommodated is provided with a connector 62 andportions 63 to be fitted. Meanwhile, an extension portion 66, which isanother unit, is disposed on the lower surface side of the extensionportion 64, and both the extension portions 64 and 66 are relativelyrotatable about a rotation axis extending in the elongating direction ofthe main body 31. With this, it is also possible to rotate, with respectto the main body 31, the operation member 65 provided to the extensionportion 66.

Second Embodiment

Next, description is given of an operation device according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is an outer appearanceperspective view of the operation device according to the secondembodiment, FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating a light emittingmodule viewed from the front direction, FIG. 19 is a perspective viewillustrating a main body module viewed from the front direction, FIG. 20is a perspective view illustrating a first additional operation moduleviewed from the front direction, and FIG. 21 is a perspective viewillustrating a second additional operation module viewed from the frontdirection. The operation device illustrated in FIG. 17 has a lightemitting module 140, a main body module 80, a first additional operationmodule 90, and a second additional operation module 100 connected inseries in the stated order with the fronts of the respective modulesfacing the same direction. As illustrated in FIG. 18, in the lightemitting module 140, the light emitting member 20 is engaged to the topsurface of a main body 20 a having a short cylindrical shape, and aconnector (female connector) 142 is provided at the center of the lowersurface of the main body 20 a. As illustrated in FIG. 19, the main bodyof the main body module 80 has a cylindrical shape with the samediameter as that of the main body 20 a of the light emitting module 140,and has an operation member 83 for inputting direction informationdisposed at the front thereof. Further, a connector (male connector) 81is provided at the center of the top surface of the main body, and aconnector (female connector) 82 is provided at the center of the lowersurface thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 20, the main body of the firstadditional operation module 90 has a cylindrical shape with the samediameter as that of the main body of the main body module 80, and has anoperation member 93 including a plurality of buttons disposed at thefront thereof. Further, at the back thereof, there is disposed anoperation member 94 having a stick-like shape, for transmitting, whentilted, a signal corresponding to the direction of the tilt to the gamemachine main body 16. Further, a connector (male connector) 91 isprovided at the center of the top surface of the main body, and aconnector (female connector) 92 is provided at the center of the lowersurface thereof. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the main body ofthe second additional operation module 100 has a cylindrical shape withthe same diameter as that of the main body of the main body module 80,and has an operation member 103 including a single button disposed atthe front thereof. Further, a connector (male connector) 101 is providedat the center of the top surface of the main body, and a connector(female connector) 102 is provided at the center of the lower surfacethereof.

The example illustrated in FIG. 17 is realized by inserting theconnector 81 of the main body module 80 into the connector 142 of thelight emitting module 140 in such a manner that the fronts of both themodules face the same direction, inserting the connector 91 of the firstadditional operation module 90 into the connector 82 of the main bodymodule 80 in such a manner that the fronts of both the modules face thesame direction, and further inserting the connector 101 of the secondadditional operation module 100 into the connector 92 of the firstadditional operation module 90 in such a manner that the fronts of boththe modules face the same direction.

In the operation device, the connectors 81, 91, and 101 have the sameshape, and also, the connectors 82, 92, 102, and 142 have the sameshape. Accordingly, the order of connection of the modules may beinterchanged arbitrarily. For example, in the example illustrated inFIG. 22, the order of connection between the first additional operationmodule 90 and the second additional operation module 100 isinterchanged.

Further, the connectors 81, 82, 91, 92, 101, 102, and 142 are structuredto be capable of electrical connection both in a mode in which thefronts of two modules to be coupled face the same direction and in amode in which the front of one module and the back of the other moduleface the same direction. Thus, each module can be connected to anothermodule in an arbitrary direction. For example, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 23, the first additional operation module 90 iscoupled to the main body module 80 such that the back of the firstadditional operation module 90 is positioned on the same side as thefront of the main body module 80.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the modulesof the operation device. As illustrated in the figure, when theconnectors are connected to each other, a serial bus 120 is formed byusing, for example, the inter-integrated circuit (I2C) system. The mainbody module 80 is provided with a control unit 110 constituted mainly bya CPU and a wireless communication module, and a master communicationsection 111 for controlling data communication through the serial bus120 is built in the control unit 110. The main body module 80 has anacceleration sensor 113 built therein, and the detection content of theacceleration sensor 113 is input to the control unit 110. Further, areference voltage generation unit 112, which is a generation source ofreference voltage, is provided, and the reference voltage generationunit 112 applies the reference voltage to another module coupled via theconnector 82. The control unit 110 controls the light emission timingand the light emission color of the light emitting element 73 in anautonomous manner or in accordance with a control signal transmittedfrom the game machine main body 16 via the wireless communicationmodule.

In the first additional operation module 90, signal lines extending fromthe connector 91 to the connector 92 are provided as a partial sectionof the serial bus 120. A slave communication section 118 is connected tothis section, and data indicating the contents of operations performedon the operation members 93 and 94 is transmitted by the slavecommunication section 118 to the master communication section 111.Further, identification information indicating the type of the firstadditional operation module 90 which is stored in a memory (not shown)is also transmitted to the master communication section 111. Further,the first additional operation module 90, too, has an accelerationsensor 119 built therein, and the detection content thereof istransmitted by the slave communication section 118 to the mastercommunication section 111. In the first additional operation module 90,there is further provided a voltage signal line 114 extending from theconnector 91 to the connector 92. A resistor 115 is interposed in themiddle of the voltage signal line 114, and one end of a resistor 116,which has the other end grounded, is connected at a position closer tothe connector 92 side than the resistor 115. Then, the voltage of theone end of the resistor 116 is detected by a voltmeter 117, and thecontent thereof is also transmitted by the slave communication section118 to the master communication section 111.

The second additional operation module 100 also has the sameconfiguration as the first additional operation module 90, and signallines extending from the connector 101 to the connector 102 are providedas a partial section of the serial bus 120. A slave communicationsection 121 is connected to this section, and data indicating thecontent of an operation performed on the operation member 103 istransmitted by the slave communication section 121 to the mastercommunication section 111. Further, the identification informationindicating the type of the second additional operation module 100 whichis stored in a memory (not shown) is also transmitted to the mastercommunication section 111. Further, the second additional operationmodule 100, too, has an acceleration sensor 125 built therein, and thedetection content thereof is transmitted by the slave communicationsection 121 to the master communication section 111. In the secondadditional operation module 100, there is further provided a voltagesignal line extending from the connector 101 to the connector 102. Aresistor 123 is interposed in the middle of the voltage signal line, andone end of a resistor 124, which has the other end grounded, isconnected at a position closer to the connector 102 side than theresistor 123. Then, the voltage of the one end of the resistor 124 isdetected by a voltmeter 122, and the content of the detection is alsotransmitted by the slave communication section 121 to the mastercommunication section 111.

The pieces of information collected in the control unit 110 in theabove-mentioned manner are transmitted by the wireless communicationmodule to the game machine main body 16. The game machine main body 16determines the order of coupling of the modules by comparing the voltagevalues transmitted from the respective modules. Specifically, the gamemachine main body 16 determines the order of coupling of the modules bytaking into account a fact that the detected voltage value graduallydecreases in accordance with the order from the main body module 80.Further, by comparing the detection contents of the acceleration sensors113, 119, and 125 transmitted from the respective modules, the gamemachine main body 16 determines the directions of coupling of therespective modules. Then, in accordance with the content of thedetermination, the content of the processing for the application ischanged. Note that, the first and second additional operation modules 90and 100 may each hold a table storing the order of connection and therange of voltage, to thereby determine the orders of connection of theirown by checking the voltage values detected by the voltmeters 117 and122 in the table. In this case, it is only necessary that the determinedorder of connection be notified to the control unit 110.

As described above, by constituting the operation device by a pluralityof modules, providing the operation member to the side surface of eachmodule, and making the coupling mode between the modules arbitrarilychangeable, the operation device can be changed arbitrarily inaccordance with the type of the application executed on the game machinemain body 16 or in accordance with the preference of the player P.Further, in the game machine main body 16, the content of the processingfor the application can be changed in accordance with the coupling mode.

Third Embodiment

Next, description is given of a third embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system 201according to the third embodiment. As illustrated in the figure, theinformation processing system 201 includes an information processingapparatus 210 and a plurality of operation devices 220 each providedwith the light emitting portion. The information processing apparatus210 includes an image capture unit 214, and is connected to a displayapparatus 215. Further, each of the operation devices 220 iscommunicable with the information processing apparatus 210 via awireless communication interface. Users of the information processingsystem 201 each hold the operation device 220, and operate a button orthe like provided to the operation device 220 with their hands. Inresponse, the content of the operation performed by the user istransmitted to the information processing apparatus 210 via the wirelesscommunication interface. Further, the information processing apparatus210 uses the image capture unit 214 to capture the image of lightemitted from the light emitting portion of each of the operation devices220, and identifies the position of each of the operation devices 220 ina real space based on the captured image. With this, each user canperform operation input with respect to the information processingapparatus 210 not only by operating a button or the like provided to theoperation device 220 but also by moving the operation device 220 itself.

Hereinbelow, description is given of hardware configurations of theinformation processing apparatus 210 and the operation device 220according to this embodiment.

The information processing apparatus 210 is, for example, a consumergame machine or a personal computer, and, as illustrated in FIG. 26,includes a control unit 211, a storage unit 212, a wirelesscommunication unit 213, and the image capture unit 214. Further, theinformation processing apparatus 210 is connected to the displayapparatus 215.

The control unit 211 is, for example, a microprocessor, and executesvarious kinds of information processing in accordance with a programstored in the storage unit 212. A specific example of the processingexecuted by the control unit 211 in this embodiment is described later.

The storage unit 212 includes a memory device such as a RAM or a ROM,and stores the program executed by the control unit 211 and variouskinds of data. Further, the storage unit 212 operates as a workingmemory for the control unit 211.

The wireless communication unit 213 is a wireless communicationinterface, and transmits/receives information to/from the operationdevice 220 through wireless communication without using a transmissionline. The wireless communication unit 213 may be a wirelesscommunication interface based on, for example, the Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) standard. In this embodiment, the wireless communication unit213 is capable of executing the transmission/reception of data to/fromthe plurality of operation devices 220. Specifically, the wirelesscommunication unit 213 establishes a communication connection to each ofthe operation devices 220, and performs communication with each of theoperation devices 220 through time division multiplex communication,through a scheme in which communication is performed using differentfrequency bands, or through such other scheme. Note that, in a casewhere a plurality of operation devices 220 are connected to theinformation processing apparatus 210 at the same time, the informationprocessing apparatus 210 assigns, to each of the operation devices 220,a logical number for identifying the operation device 220. Theinformation processing apparatus 210 identifies the operation device 220by using the logical number, and exchanges data therebetween.

The image capture unit 214 is a camera device, and captures the image ofits surrounding. Specifically, for example, the image capture unit 214is placed at a position at which the image capture unit 214 is able tocapture the image of the user viewing a screen of the display apparatus215, such as on the top of the display apparatus 215, and captures acolor image. In this embodiment, the image capture unit 214 functions asdetection means for detecting light emitted from the light emittingportion of the operation device 220. Specifically, by causing the imagecapture unit 214 to capture the image of the operation device 220 heldby the user, the information processing apparatus 210 detects the lightemitted from the light emitting portion of the operation device 220.

The display apparatus 215 is, for example, a consumer television set,and displays, on the screen, various kinds of information to bepresented to the user, in accordance with a video signal output from theinformation processing apparatus 210.

FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B are diagrams illustrating an example of the outerappearance of the operation device 220. FIG. 27A is a front view of theoperation device 220 whereas FIG. 27B is a bottom view thereof. Asillustrated in those figures, the operation device 220 has a shape inwhich a light emitting portion 222 in a spherical shape is engaged toone end of a main body portion 221 in a cylindrical shape, and aplurality of buttons 223 are provided to the front of the main bodyportion 221. The user holds the main body portion 221 to perform theoperation input of depressing the buttons 223 with his/her fingers.Further, as illustrated in FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B, the bottom of the mainbody portion 221 is provided with a USB connector 224 compliant with theuniversal serial bus (USB) standard. Note that, instead of the USBconnector 224, the operation device 220 may be provided with anextension connector to which various kinds of devices are connectable.

FIG. 28 is a configuration block diagram illustrating an internalconfiguration example of the operation device 220. As illustrated in thefigure, the main body portion 221 includes therein a control unit 231, astorage unit 232, a wireless communication unit 233, an accelerationsensor 234, a gyroscope 235, a magnetic sensor 236, a vibration motor237, and a rechargeable battery 238. Further, the light emitting portion222 has a plurality of LEDs 240 built therein.

The control unit 231, which is a microprocessor or the like, acquires asignal indicating the content of operation input performed by the userwith respect to the buttons 223, a signal indicating a detection resultof each sensor described below, and the like, and then outputs theacquired signals to the wireless communication unit 233. In addition, inaccordance with control signals periodically arriving from theinformation processing apparatus 210 via the wireless communication unit233, the control unit 231 performs light emission control on the LEDs240 and drive control on the vibration motor 237.

The storage unit 232 includes a memory device such as a RAM or a ROM,and stores a program and data necessary for the control unit 231 toperform control processing. Further, the wireless communication unit 233is a wireless communication interface compliant with the same standardas the wireless communication unit 213 of the information processingapparatus 210, and transmits/receives information to/from the wirelesscommunication unit 213 through wireless communication. Specifically, inresponse to an inquiry from the information processing apparatus 210,the wireless communication unit 233 transmits/receives data to/from theinformation processing apparatus 210 periodically (for example, every11.25 ms).

The acceleration sensor 234, the gyroscope 235, and the magnetic sensor236 each function as detection means for detecting the orientation(posture), the movement, etc. of the operation device 220. Specifically,in this embodiment, it is assumed that three reference axes, which areorthogonal to one another, are set in the operation device 220. Theacceleration sensor 234 detects accelerations occurring in therespective directions of the three reference axes. Owing to theacceleration sensor 234 detecting the direction of the gravitationalacceleration occurring in the operation device 220, it is possible toidentify the tilt of the operation device 220 relative to the verticaldirection. Further, based on an acceleration occurring from the movementof the operation device 220, it is possible to identify, when theoperation device 220 is moved, the moving direction and the moving speedthereof.

The gyroscope 235 detects the angular speed of rotation performed abouteach of the three reference axes which are the same as those for theacceleration sensor 234. The gyroscope 235 integrates the speedsdetected per unit time, to thereby calculate the rotation amount of theoperation device 220 about each of the reference axes. The magneticsensor 236 detects the magnitude of the magnetic field along eachdirection of the three reference axes. Owing to the magnetic sensor 236detecting the Earth's magnetic field, it is possible to identify whatdirection the operation device 220 is facing.

The vibration motor 237 is driven in response to the control signal fromthe control unit 231, to thereby cause the operation device 220 tovibrate. This enables the vibration to be delivered to the user's handholding the operation device 220, resulting in an enhanced realism in agame or the like. Note that, a plurality of vibration motors 237 may bedisposed inside the operation device 220.

The rechargeable battery 238, which is a secondary battery such as alithium-ion battery, stores power supplied from an outside, and suppliesthe stored power to the respective components of the operation device220. Specifically, each of the components of the operation device 220operates by using the power supplied from the rechargeable battery 238.If the remaining amount of the power charged in the rechargeable battery238 becomes small, it becomes impossible to secure power sufficient foroperating, for example, the wireless communication unit 233, which thusmay lead to a case where communication to the information processingapparatus 210 via the wireless communication unit 233 cannot becontinued.

Specifically, when the operation device 220 is connected to an externalUSB host device via the USB connector 224, the rechargeable battery 238is charged with the power supplied via a USB bus from the USB hostdevice. Note that, the USB host device may be the information processingapparatus 210 provided with a USB interface. Further, in thisdescription, the operation device 220 is charged via the USB bus, butthe present invention is not limited thereto. The rechargeable battery238 may be charged through such power supply as consumer AC powersupply.

The plurality of LEDs 240 each emit light through control by the controlunit 231. In this embodiment, three LEDs 240, that is, an LED 240R foremitting red light, an LED 240G for emitting green light, and an LED240B for emitting blue light, are disposed in line inside the lightemitting portion 222, and each of the LEDs 240 emits light with a lightintensity corresponding to the control signal from the control unit 231.Specifically, for example, each of the LEDs 240 is changeable inlightness with the 16-bit gradation, and the LED 240R, the LED 240G, andthe LED 240B each emit light with lightness corresponding to a lightnessvalue designated by the control unit 231. Depending on the ratio amongthe lightnesses of the three colors, the light emitting portion 222emits light with a variety of colors.

Hereinbelow, description is given of functions implemented by theinformation processing system 201 having the hardware configurationdescribed above. In this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 29, theinformation processing apparatus 210 functionally includes anapplication executing section 251, a device state management section252, a light emission control section 253, and a device positionidentifying section 254. Those functions are implemented by the controlunit 211 executing the program stored in the storage unit 212. Theprogram may be provided by being stored in various kinds ofcomputer-readable information storage media, such as an optical disc, ormay be provided via a communication network such as the Internet.

The application executing section 251 executes various kinds ofprocessing defined by an application program, such as a gameapplication. Specifically, the application executing section 251executes various kinds of processing in response to instructionoperation input from the operation device 220 by the user, and outputsresults of the execution through such a method as performing display onthe screen of the display apparatus 215.

Here, the application executing section 251 may execute processing notonly in accordance with operations performed by the user on the buttons223 provided to the operation device 220 but also in accordance with theposition and the orientation of the operation device 220 in the realspace. For that purpose, the application executing section 251 acquiresinformation indicating the position and the orientation of the operationdevice 220 from the device position identifying section 254 describedbelow. By doing so, the application executing section 251 can executeprocessing in response to various kinds of actions of the user, such asmoving the position of the operation device 220, swinging the operationdevice 220, and rotating the operation device 220. Further, in responseto a content of the processing, the application executing section 251may output a vibration instruction for causing the vibration motor 237built in the operation device 220 to vibrate. The vibration instructionis transmitted to the operation device 220 via the wirelesscommunication unit 213, and causes the vibration motor 237 inside theoperation device 220 to vibrate.

The device state management section 252 manages the state of theoperation device 220 connected to the information processing apparatus210. Specifically, if a connection request has been received from theoperation device 220 via the wireless communication unit 213, the devicestate management section 252 assigns the logical number (port number) tothe operation device 220 which has made the connection request. Here,the information processing apparatus 210 assigns different logicalnumbers to the respective operation devices 220 in order of theconnection requests. Specifically, the information processing apparatus210 associates information for identifying, on a wireless communicationnetwork, the operation device 220 which has made the connection request(for example, network address) with an unassigned port number. With theexecution of the assignment of port numbers (port assignment), theinformation processing apparatus 210 can afterwards identify each of aplurality of operation devices 220 connected thereto at the same time bymeans of the port numbers. For example, the application executingsection 251 uses the port numbers to identify which operation device 220has been used among the plurality of operation devices 220 to performthe operation input, and to which operation device 220 each of thecontrol signals is to be transmitted.

Further, the device state management section 252 acquires information onthe state of each of the connected operation devices 220, and, inaccordance with the acquired information, executes processing of, forexample, presenting the state of the operation device 220 to the user. Aspecific example of the processing is described later.

The light emission control section 253 controls the light emission ofthe light emitting portion 222 of each of the connected operationdevices 220 by using an instruction from the application executingsection 251 and information on the device state of the operation device220 acquired by the device state management section 252. Specifically,when a plurality of operation devices 220 are communicably connected viathe wireless communication unit 213, the light emission control section253 controls the light emission color so that the light emittingportions 222 of the plurality of operation devices 220 emit light beamshaving different colors from one another. Further, in accordance withthe device state of the communicably-connected operation device 220, thelight emission mode of the light emitting portion 222 is changed.Further, the light emission control section 253 may change the lightemission color of the light emitting portion 222 in accordance withvarious kinds of conditions, such as the execution state of processingperformed by the application executing section 251. A specific exampleof the light emission control performed on the light emitting portion222 by the light emission control section 253 is described later.

The device position identifying section 254 identifies the position ofeach of the operation devices 220 by using the image captured by theimage capture unit 214. Specifically, the device position identifyingsection 254 acquires data of the captured image obtained by the imagecapture unit 214 at predetermined time intervals. Then, image processingsuch as pattern matching processing is executed with respect to theacquired captured image, and, from the captured image, the image oflight emitted from the light emitting portion 222 is extracted. Further,based on the position of the extracted light image in the capturedimage, the device position identifying section 254 identifies theposition of the operation device 220 in the field of view of the imagecapture unit 214. Further, based on the size of the extracted lightimage in the captured image, a distance from the image capture unit 214to the operation device 220 is identified. With this, the position ofthe operation device 220 in the real space with respect to the imagecapture unit 214 is identified.

However, depending on how the user operates the operation device 220,there occurs a case where the light emitting portion 222 becomestemporarily unable to be detected, for example, because the operationdevice 220 has moved out of the field of view of the image capture unit214, because the light emitting portion 222 has been turned toward theopposite side of the image capture unit 214, or because the light fromthe light emitting portion 222 has been blocked by an obstacle, theuser's hand, or the like. In view of this, in this embodiment, thedevice position identifying section 254 identifies the position of theoperation device 220 by using not only the captured image from the imagecapture unit 214 but also a signal indicating the detection results ofthe sensors transmitted from each of the operation devices 220. Withthis, it is possible to identify the position of the operation device220 with more accuracy, and also to identify the tilt of the operationdevice 220. In addition, it is possible to track the position of theoperation device 220 even when the image of the light of the lightemitting portion 222 cannot be detected from the captured image.

Specifically, the device position identifying section 254 starts with apredetermined reference position and periodically repeats positionidentification processing for the operation device 220 by using thelight of the light emitting portion 222, to thereby track the positionof the operation device 220. In parallel with that, by using outputvalues of the various kinds of sensors built in the operation device220, the device position identifying section 254 also calculates themoving direction and the moving distance of the operation device 220with respect to the reference position, to thereby track the position ofthe operation device 220. On this occasion, in order to calculate themoving direction and the moving distance of the operation device 220from the output values of the sensors, the device position identifyingsection 254 performs arithmetic computations on the output values of thesensors by using predetermined coefficients. Then, the device positionidentifying section 254 corrects the predetermined coefficients so as tominimize a difference between the position of the operation device 220identified using the light of the light emitting portion 222 and theposition identified using the output values of the sensors. When thelight from the light emitting portion 222 has failed to be detected, thearithmetic computations are performed on the output values of thesensors by using the corrected coefficients, and then, the position ofthe operation device 220 is identified. In this manner, by performingcorrection using information on the position of the operation device 220acquired while the light can be detected from the light emitting portion222, even when the light cannot be detected, it is possible to continueto identify the position of the operation device 220 relativelyaccurately based on the output values of the sensors.

Note that, as detailed description is given later, in the case where aplurality of operation devices 220 are connected to the informationprocessing apparatus 210, the colors of the light emission of therespective operation devices 220 are controlled to be different from oneanother by the light emission control section 253. Accordingly, whenthere exist a plurality of light images of the light emitting portions222 in the captured image obtained by the image capture unit 214, basedon the color of the light, it is possible to identify to which operationdevice 220 the light image detected from the captured image correspond.

Hereinbelow, description is given of a specific example of a method inwhich the light emission control section 253 controls the light emissioncolor of each of the operation devices 220. In this embodiment, thestorage unit 232 of the operation device 220 stores a color managementtable. The color management table is a table associating a color numberwith information on the lightness of each LED 240, which is used forcausing the light emitting portion 222 to emit light with a colorcorresponding to the color number. FIG. 30 illustrates an example of thecolor management table. In the example of the figure, each of a total ofsixteen color numbers (from 0 to 15) is associated with lightness valuesRn, Gn, and Bn (n=0, 1, . . . , 15) representing respective lightnessesof the LEDs 240R, 240G, and 240B for causing the light emitting portion222 to emit light with a predetermined color. Here, each of thelightness values Rn, Gn, and Bn is a numerical value having, forexample, a 16-bit length.

When the light emission control section 253 of the informationprocessing apparatus 210 changes the light emission color of the lightemitting portion 222 in accordance with various kinds of conditionsdescribed below, the light emission control section 253 transmits, tothe operation device 220, an instruction to change the light emissioncolor along with information designating the color number. As describedabove, the information processing apparatus 210 transmits/receives datato/from the operation device 220 through the wireless communication atpredetermined time intervals, and hence, at a timing corresponding tothis predetermined time interval, the light emission control section 253can transmit the instruction to change the light emission color of theoperation device 220. After reception of the change instruction, thecontrol unit 231 of the operation device 220 reads, from the colormanagement table, the lightness value of each LED 240 associated withthe designated color number. Then, in accordance with the read lightnessvalue, the control unit 231 controls the lightness of each LED 240, tothereby cause the light emitting portion 222 to emit light with a colorcorresponding to the designated color number. With this, the lightemission control section 253 can cause the light emitting portion 222 ofthe operation device 220 to emit light with any one of sixteen patternsof colors, such as blue, red, magenta, green, etc., associated inadvance with the color numbers 0 to 15.

Note that, the operation device 220 may store a plurality of colormanagement tables. For example, in the ROM, there may be stored a fixedcolor management table T1 written at the time of factory shipment of theoperation device 220, and, in the RAM, there may be stored a variablecolor management table T2 which is rewritable in accordance with aselection made by the user or an instruction from the applicationexecuting section 251 while the operation device 220 is in operation. Inthis case, when the operation device 220 is in the initial state, thevariable color management table T2 is loaded into the RAM with the samecontents as those of the fixed color management table T1. Then, forexample, in accordance with the instruction operation performed by theuser, the light emission control section 253 selects a new color whichis not contained in the fixed color management table T1, and thentransmits, to the operation device 220, information on the lightnessvalue of each LED for causing the light emitting portion 222 to emitlight with that color, while designating the color number. In accordancewith the information transmitted from the information processingapparatus 210, the control unit 231 of the operation device 220 updatesthe lightness values associated with the designated color number in thevariable color management table T2. With this, the light emissioncontrol section 253 can designate, as the light emission color of theoperation device 220, even a color which does not exist in the fixedcolor management table T1 stored in the ROM.

Alternatively, the light emission control section 253 may transmit, tothe operation device 220, an instruction to update the variable colormanagement table T2 in the RAM, in accordance with a request from theapplication executing section 251. With this, regardless of the colorsstored in the fixed color management table T1, the informationprocessing apparatus 210 can cause the operation device 220 to prestoreinformation on a color with which the application executing section 251desires to cause the operation device 220 to emit light along with theexecution of the processing, and thus can realize such light emissioncontrol that responds to the content of the processing of theapplication executing section 251, such as changing the light emissioncolor in synchronization with the progress of the processing of theapplication executing section 251.

In the case where a plurality of color management tables are stored inthe operation device 220 as described above, at the time of changing thelight emission color of the operation device 220, the light emissioncontrol section 253 transmits, to the operation device 220, theinstruction to change the light emission color along with informationfor identifying the color management table (here, informationdesignating one of the fixed color management table T1 and the variablecolor management table T2) and information designating the color numberin the identified color management table.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may give the instructionto change the light emission color by directly designating the lightnessvalue of each LED 240, instead of designating the color number. Forexample, in accordance with the instruction from the applicationexecuting section 251, the light emission control section 253 transmits,to the operation device 220, the instruction to change the lightemission color along with information on the lightness valuerepresenting the lightness of each of the LED 240R, 240G, and 240B. Withthis, in accordance with, for example, the content of the processingexecuted by the application executing section 251, the informationprocessing apparatus 210 can cause the light emitting portion 222 of theoperation device 220 to emit light with a color which is not containedin the color management table of the operation device 220.

Next, description is given of some specific examples of the lightemission control performed on the light emitting portion 222 by thelight emission control section 253 in accordance with various kinds ofconditions. Note that, as for a plurality of examples of the conditionsfor the light emission control described below, some may be used incombination.

First, as a first example, description is given of control in which, inthe case where a plurality of operation devices 220 are communicablyconnected, the light emitting portions 222 are caused to emit light sothat the colors of light emission of the respective operation devices220 are different from one another.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that when the user desires to startusing the operation device 220, the user operates a predetermined button223 (for example, power button). In response to the operation, theoperation device 220 starts control to cause the light emitting portion222 to emit light in a predetermined pattern. Specifically, theoperation device 220 reads the lightness values of a predetermined colornumber from the fixed color management table T1 in the ROM, and thencauses the respective LEDs to emit light based on the read lightnessvalues. With this, until a wireless communication connection to theinformation processing apparatus 210 is established, the light emittingportion 222 emits light with a particular color. Therefore, the user canknow that a wireless communication connection has not been establishedyet from the light emission color of the light emitting portion 222.Further, the operation device 220 may cause the light emitting portion222 to flash with a predetermined color, or may cause the light emittingportion 222 to emit light while changing the color among a plurality ofcolors (for example, seven colors) in order. With this, it is possibleto show the user more clearly that a connection is being established.

On the other hand, in response to the instruction to start using theoperation device 220 from the user, the operation device 220 transmitsthe connection request to the information processing apparatus 210. Inresponse thereto, the device state management section 252 assigns theport number to the operation device 220 as described above. Then, thelight emission control section 253 which has received, from the devicestate management section 252, a notification indicating that the portnumber has been assigned to a new operation device 220 determines thelight emission color of the newly-connected operation device 220. Forexample, the light emission control section 253 determines, as the lightemission color of the operation device 220, a color associated with thecolor number having the same number as the assigned port number(Specifically, in the case of the operation device 220 which has beenassigned to a first port, the color number is 1.). Then, an instructionto change to the light emission color designated by the determined colornumber is given to the operation device 220. In accordance with thechange instruction, the light emission color of the operation device 220is changed, and the user can know that a wireless communicationconnection has been established. Note that, the changing of the colormay be executed in a seamless manner. Specifically, the light emissioncolor of the light emitting portion 222 may be changed by graduallychanging the lightness value of each LED 240 from the light emissioncolor at a timing when a wireless communication connection has beenestablished to the designated color.

Here, it is assumed that the light emission control section 253determines, as the colors of light emission, different colors among theport numbers assigned to the respective operation devices 220. Forexample, the light emission control section 253 assigns in advancedifferent colors among the port numbers: blue (color number 1) for theoperation device 220 assigned to the first port; red for a second port(color number 2); magenta for a third port (color number 3); and greenfor a fourth port (color number 4). With this, in the case where aplurality of operation devices 220 are connected to the informationprocessing apparatus 210 at the same time, the light emitting portions222 of the plurality of operation devices 220 emit light with differentcolors from one another, which thus enables the user to identify each ofthe operation devices 220 based on the light emission color. Owing tothis, the operation device 220 does not need to be provided with anindicator or the like for displaying the port number to which theoperation device 220 is connected.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may change the colordetermined based on the port number, in accordance with an instructionfrom the user. In this case, for example, the user operates theoperation device 220 to give an instruction to change the light emissioncolor on a menu screen. In response thereto, the light emission controlsection 253 presents candidates for the light emission color on thescreen of the display apparatus 215. On this occasion, the presentedcandidates for the light emission color may be, for example, the colorsstored in the variable color management table T2 stored in the operationdevice 220 held by the user who has given the instruction.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may exclude, from thecolors to be presented, the color already selected as the light emissioncolor of another operation device 220. Specifically, in this embodiment,it is assumed that the information processing apparatus 210 stores thecolors which have been specified for the respectivecommunicably-connected operation devices 220 for the light emission.FIG. 31 illustrates an example of a device light emission colorcorrespondence table for managing correspondence relation between theport number of the operation device 220 and the light emission color ofthe operation device 220. As described above, when a communicationconnection is established, the operation device 220 is first instructedto emit light with a color determined in advance for each port number.The light emission control section 253 stores the specified color inassociation with the port number in the device light emission colorcorrespondence table. In the example of FIG. 31, it is assumed that theoperation device 220 connected to the first port is instructed to emitlight with blue, and the operation device 220 connected to the secondport is instructed to emit light with red.

In this state, when the user holding the operation device 220 connectedto the first port has given the instruction to change the light emissioncolor, the light emission control section 253 acquires information onthe colors stored in the variable color management table T2 in theoperation device 220. Then, it is checked whether or not there is acolor specified as the light emission color of another operation device220 in the acquired colors, and remaining colors obtained afterexcluding such a color are presented to the user as selection candidatesfor the light emission color. In this case, red already specified forthe operation device 220 using the second port is excluded. FIG. 32illustrates an example of a presentation screen for such selectioncandidates for the light emission color. When the user has selected anarbitrary color from among the presented candidates for the lightemission color, the light emission control section 253 designates thecolor number of the selected color, and gives the instruction to changethe light emission color to the operation device 220. With thisconfiguration, regardless of the port number assigned to the operationdevice 220 held by the user himself/herself, the user can change thelight emission color of the light emitting portion 222 to his/herfavorite color. On the other hand, the light emission color of anotheroperation device 220 is not presented as the selection candidate, andhence, even if the users freely change the colors of light emission oftheir operation devices 220, it is possible to perform control in such amanner that the colors of light emission of the operation devices 220connected through the wireless communication become different colorsfrom one another. Therefore, at the time of identifying the positions ofthe operation devices 220 based on the light beams from the lightemitting portions 222 of the plurality of operation devices 220, thedevice position identifying section 254 can execute the positionidentification processing by distinguishing the plurality of operationdevices 220 from one another.

Note that, the presentation of the selection candidates for the lightemission color may be realized by a method other than displaying on thescreen of the display apparatus 215. For example, the light emissioncontrol section 253 may switch among the plurality of selectioncandidates for the light emission color in order every time the useroperates the button 223 for giving an instruction for color changing,when causing the light emitting portion 222 to emit light. With this,the user can change the light emission color by repeatedly operating thebutton 223 until the light emitting portion 222 emits light with a colorwhich the user himself/herself desires. In this case, too, if the lightemission control section 253 skips the light emission color of anotheroperation device 220 when performing the switching of the light emissioncolor, the light emission control section 253 can exclude the coloralready used for another operation device 220 from the selectioncandidates for the light emission color which are to be presented to theuser. Note that, in addition to the same color as the color already usedfor the other operation device 220, the light emission control section253 may exclude a color similar to the already-used color (for example,a color having a hue value difference within a predetermined threshold)from the selection candidates to be presented to the user.

Further, while the operation device 220 is in use, the user may make arequest to change the port number assigned to the operation device 220.In this case, if the light emitting portion 222 of the operation device220 is emitting light with a color associated in advance with the portnumber before the change, the light emission control section 253 maychange the light emission color of the light emitting portion 222 to thecolor associated with the port number after the change. In another case,when the light emission color has already been changed in accordancewith a selection instruction from the user before the port number ischanged, the light emission control section 253 may allow the lightemission color selected by the user to be maintained instead of changingthe light emission color of the operation device 220. In this case, inthe device light emission color correspondence table illustrated as anexample in FIG. 31, only the light emission color associated with theport number assigned so far to the operation device 220 and the lightemission color associated with the newly-assigned port number arechanged.

Further, when the communication connection to the information processingapparatus 210 has been cut off due to a network trouble or the likewhile the operation device 220 is in use, the control unit 231 of theoperation device 220 may execute control so as to cause the lightemission color of the light emitting portion 222 to be changed to apredetermined color indicating the state in which the communicationconnection is not established. If the predetermined color used in thiscase is a color different from the light emission color determined basedon the port number, the user can know the cut-off of the communicationconnection by means of the light emission of the light emitting portion222.

Further, in an opposite manner to the above-mentioned control in whichthe light emitting portion 222 of the operation device 220 is caused toemit light with a color associated with the assigned port number, theinformation processing apparatus 210 may assign, to the operation device220, the port number associated with the light emission color requestedby the operation device 220 side. To give a specific example, when theconnection request designating the light emission color has beenreceived from the operation device 220, the device state managementsection 252 assigns the port number associated in advance with thedesignated light emission color to the operation device 220 which hasmade the connection request. In this case, the operation device 220 isprovided on the surface thereof with, for example, a selection switchfor selecting a color, and the user operates the selection switch todesignate the selected color and makes the connection request to theinformation processing apparatus 210. Alternatively, the operationdevice 220 may make the connection request by designating the lightemission color used when the operation device 220 was operated lasttime. Further, the operation device 220 may be configured to beconnectable, via the USB connector 224, another extension connector, orthe like, to an extension device (for example, memory card) storinginformation for identifying the light emission color (for example, colornumber), and may make the connection request by designating the coloridentified by the information stored in the extension device. With this,instead of changing later the color determined based on the port numberassigned at the time of establishing the connection, the user can causethe light emitting portion 222 of his/her own operation device 220 toemit light with his/her favorite color or a color which the user alwaysuses from the beginning of the establishment of the connection. Notethat, in this example, too, the designated color is notified to thelight emission control section 253, and the light emission controlsection 253 manages the colors of light emission of the connectedoperation devices 220. With this, in a case where the color designatedby the operation device 220 which has made a new connection request isalready assigned as the light emission color of another operation device220, the information processing apparatus 210 executes such control asto reject the connection request from the operation device 220 ordisplay an error message to cause the user to select another colorthrough a method similar to the above-mentioned example of FIG. 32.Therefore, it is possible to cause the plurality of operation devices220 to emit light with different colors from one another.

Next, as a second example of the light emission control performed by thelight emission control section 253, description is given of an exampleof control in which the light emission mode of the light emittingportion 222 is changed in accordance with the device state of theconnected operation device 220.

In this example, the light emission control section 253 uses theinformation on the device state of the operation device 220 which isacquired by the device state management section 252 to perform the lightemission control on the light emitting portion 222. Specifically, forexample, the light emission control section 253 may change the lightemission mode of the light emitting portion 222 in accordance with thecharge state of the rechargeable battery 238 built in the operationdevice 220. In this case, the device state management section 252periodically acquires numerical information indicating the remainingcharge of the rechargeable battery 238 from the operation device 220.Then, when the numerical information has fallen below a predeterminedthreshold, and it is determined that the remaining charge of therechargeable battery 238 has become small, the device state managementsection 252 notifies the light emission control section 253 of a resultof the determination. In response thereto, the light emission controlsection 253 gives an instruction to the operation device 220 so that thelight emitting portion 222 is caused to emit light with a predeterminedcolor indicating that the remaining charge has become small. With this,even if the operation device 220 does not have an indicator or the likefor indicating the charge state of the rechargeable battery 238, theuser can know the charge state of the operation device 220.

Further, when the remaining charge of the operation device 220 hasbecome small, the light emission control section 253 may execute controlso as to cause flashing display in which switching is alternately madebetween the light emission color specified based on the assigned portnumber or in accordance with the selection made by the user as describedabove, and the light emission color used for giving a warning about theremaining charge.

Further, instead of performing the light emission control whichconstantly gives a warning about the state when the remaining charge hasbecome small, the light emission control section 253 may cause, at apredetermined timing, the light emitting portion 222 to emit light withthe light emission color indicating the remaining charge. For example,when the user has executed an operation on a predetermined button 223for displaying the remaining charge, the light emission control section253 causes the light emitting portion 222 to emit light with a colorcorresponding to the remaining charge of that time point (green in astate close to full-charge, yellow when half-charged or less, and red ina state close to empty). Further, when the user has given an instructionto display the remaining charge, the light emission control section 253may change the light emission mode without changing the light emissioncolor, such as: a steady light in the state of full-charge; a flashinglight when half-charged or less; and no light in the state close toempty. With this, while usually allowing the light emitting portion 222to emit light with a color selected based on the connected port numberor by himself/herself, the user can check the charge state by changingthe light emission mode of the light emitting portion 222 if necessary.Further, without changing the hue of the light emission color, the lightemission control section 253 may present the charge state to the user bychanging the lightness of the light emission color depending on theremaining charge.

Note that, depending on circumstances, independently of the control bythe light emission control section 253, the operation device 220 maychange the light emission mode of the light emitting portion 222 inaccordance with the charge state by using the above-mentioned method. Asdescribed above, if the remaining charge becomes small, an instructionmay not be received from the light emission control section 253 becausethe wireless communication connection via the wireless communicationunit 233 cannot be maintained. In this case, too, if the operationdevice 220 independently changes the light emission mode of the lightemitting portion 222 in accordance with the remaining charge, the usercan know the remaining charge. Further, even when the establishment of awireless communication connection to the information processingapparatus 210 is being executed, it is possible to control the lightemission mode in accordance with the remaining charge.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may execute the lightemission control on the operation device 220 in accordance with variouskinds of device states of the operation device 220 other than the chargestate. For example, the operation device 220 may detect the mode ofvibration generated by driving the vibration motor 237 based on theoutputs of the sensors such as the acceleration sensor 234, and thelight emission control section 253 may change the light emission colorof the light emitting portion 222 in accordance with the mode of thevibration. To give a specific example, even when the same vibrationmotor 237 is driven, the mode of the vibration varies depending on thestate of the operation device 220. Examples of the state of theoperation device 220 include: a case where the operation device 220 isplaced on a table or the like; a case where the user is gently holdingthe main body portion 221 with his/her hand; and a case where the useris firmly holding the main body portion 221 with his/her hand. Byutilizing this fact, for example, the light emission control section 253can execute such control that causes the light emission color to bechanged to a predetermined color when the user firmly holds the mainbody portion 221 with his/her hand while the vibration motor 237 isbeing driven. Further, the light emission control section 253 may changethe light emission color in accordance with the content of an operationperformed by the user with respect to the buttons 223. Further, apartfrom the sensors described above, the operation device 220 may beprovided with a pressure-sensitive sensor or the like for detecting, forexample, whether or not the user is holding the main body portion 221,and the light emission control section 253 may change the light emissioncolor in accordance with a result of the detection by such a sensor.

With this configuration, the light emission control section 253 canchange the light emission mode of the light emitting portion 222 inaccordance with various kinds of conditions including whether or not theuser is holding the operation device 220, and what kind of buttonoperation the user is performing. Depending on the content of theprocessing executed by the application executing section 251, suchcontrol may be performed that the light emission color of the lightemitting portion 222 is changed to a particular color while a particularbutton 223 is depressed. As a result, it is possible to present anoperation timing or the like to the user in an easy-to-recognize manner.For example, in a case where various kinds of operation inputs areperformed by swinging or tilting the operation device 220 while aparticular button 223 is depressed, if the light emission color of thelight emitting portion 222 is changed in response to the depression ofthe particular button 223, it is possible to show in aneasy-to-recognize manner what kind of button operation the user holdingthe operation device 220 is performing, to another user than the userholding the operation device 220 to operate the buttons 223.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may change the lightemission color in accordance with an extension device or the likeconnected to the operation device 220. For example, the operation device220 may be connectable, via the USB connector 224, another extensionconnector, or the like, to an extension device (for example, memorycard) storing identification information for identifying the user. Inthis case, the identification information of the user stored in theextension device is transmitted from the operation device 220 to theinformation processing apparatus 210, and the light emission controlsection 253 gives an instruction to cause the light emitting portion 222to emit light with a color stored in advance in association with thetransmitted identification information of the user. With this, even in acase where the user uses an arbitrary one of a plurality of operationdevices 220, by connecting the extension device having his/her ownidentification information written therein to the operation device 220to be used, the user can always cause the operation device 220 to emitlight with a color preset in accordance with his/her preference.

As another example of the light emission control performed by the lightemission control section 253, such control may be executed that thelight emission color of the light emitting portion 222 is changed to acolor specified by the application executing section 251 at a timing atwhich the application executing section 251 gives the specification. Inthe description above, a plurality of users hold the respectiveoperation devices 220 to perform the operation input, but, as a specificexample, description is herein given of an example in which a pluralityof users share a single operation device 220. Further, in this example,the application executing section 251 executes a multi-user gameapplication in which the plurality of users perform the instructionoperation in turn to advance the game. In this case, the users taketurns holding the operation device 220 to perform the instructionoperation. On this occasion, every time the application executingsection 251 advances the game processing after each user finishes theinstruction operation, the light emission control section 253 performscontrol so as to cause the light emitting portion 222 to emit light witha color associated with the next user. In order to realize such control,each user selects a color to be associated with himself/herself fromamong a plurality of selection candidates before the game is started.Specifically, for example, the light emission control section 253presents, to each user, in turn, the selection screen for the lightemission color as illustrated in FIG. 32, and allows each user to selectthe light emission color in advance. For example, assuming that twopersons, that is, a player 1 and a player 2, participate in the game,and that the player 1 and the player 2 have selected red and bluebeforehand, respectively, when a timing at which the player 1 shouldperform the instruction operation has come, the light emission controlsection 253 gives, to the operation device 220, an instruction to causethe light emitting portion 222 to emit light with red in response to aninstruction from the application executing section 251. Owing to this,when the light emitting portion 222 emits light with red, the player 1can know that he/she should operate the operation device 220. After theplayer 1 finishes the operation, the light emission control section 253causes the light emitting portion 222 to emit light with blue. Thisindicates that the player 2 should perform the operation next.

To give still another example of the light emission control performed bythe light emission control section 253, such control may be executedthat the light emission color of the light emitting portion 222 ischanged in accordance with a surrounding environment of the informationprocessing apparatus 210. For example, depending on whether a room wherethe information processing apparatus 210 is placed is dark or bright,there occurs a difference in detection accuracy of the image captureunit 214 for the light emission color of the light emitting portion 222.Accordingly, in accordance with the surrounding environment of theinformation processing apparatus 210 identified based on the capturedimage obtained by the image capture unit 214, the light emission controlsection 253 changes the light emission luminance of the light emittingportion 222. Specifically, when the lightness of the whole capturedimage is low (the room is dark), the light emission luminance of thelight emitting portion 222 is decreased. With this, it is possible tosuppress the power consumption caused by the light emission of the lightemitting portion 222 without decreasing the detection accuracy for thelight emitting portion 222 in the captured image. Conversely, when thelightness of the whole captured image is high (the room is bright), thelight emission luminance of the light emitting portion 222 is increased,thereby increasing the detection accuracy for the light emitting portion222.

Further, the light emission control section 253 may change the lightemission color of the light emitting portion 222 in accordance with thehue of the captured image obtained by the image capture unit 214. Forexample, the light emission control section 253 analyzes the colordistribution of a background color contained in the captured image, suchas the color of clothing worn by the user, and, based on a result of theanalysis, changes the light emission color of the light emitting portion222 to such a color that is easy to detect against the background colorof the captured image (for example, complementary color). With this, itis possible to improve the detection accuracy for the light emittingportion 222. Here, in the description above, the light emission color ofthe light emitting portion 222 is changed based on the captured imageobtained by the image capture unit 214. However, the present inventionis not limited thereto, and the light emission color of the lightemitting portion 222 may be adjusted using an external light sensor orthe like provided to the information processing apparatus 210 or theoperation device 220.

In a case where the light emission mode of the light emitting portion222 is changed based on various kinds of conditions as described above,the light emission control section 253 notifies the device positionidentifying section 254 of a fact that an instruction to change thelight emission mode has been transmitted to the operation device 220.Owing to this, the device position identifying section 254 changes adetection condition for the light image of the light emitting portion222 in accordance with the change of the light emission color of thelight emitting portion 222, and thus can continue identifying theposition of the same operation device 220 even when the light emissioncolor of the light emitting portion 222 has been changed in the capturedimage. Conversely, while the device position identifying section 254 isexecuting the position identification processing for the operationdevice 220 in response to a request from the application executingsection 251, the light emission control section 253 may execute controlso as to interrupt the light emission of the light emitting portion 222which possibly prevents the device position identifying section 254 fromdetecting the light emitted from the light emitting portion 222 (forexample, flashing of the light for notifying the user of the chargestate).

Note that, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited tothose described above. For example, the shapes of the main body portion221 and the light emitting portion 222 of the operation device 220 orthe arrangement of the buttons 223 may be different from those describedabove.

Further, part of the processing executed by the light emission controlsection 253 in the description above may be executed on the operationdevice 220 side. For example, in accordance with its own device stateidentified by the remaining charge of the rechargeable battery 238,information on the operation performed on the buttons 223, the outputsof the sensors, and the like, the control unit 231 of the operationdevice 220 changes the light emission color of the light emittingportion 222 by using predetermined conditions. In this case, theoperation device 220 notifies the information processing apparatus 210of the change of the light emission color of the light emitting portion222, and hence the device position identifying section 254 of theinformation processing apparatus 210 can continue the positionidentification processing for the operation device 220 while followingthe change of the light emission color of the light emitting portion222.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An operation device comprising: a main bodyhaving a proximal end and a distal end; a light emitting member locatedon the distal end of the main body; and a connection portion located onthe proximal end of the main body to which a plurality of operationmodules can be connected, wherein each of the plurality of operationmodules comprises: a portion to be connected to the connection portionof the operation device; an additional connection portion which isprovided on an opposite side of the portion to be connected, wherein theadditional connection portion has the same shape as the connectionportion of the main body so that another one of the plurality ofoperation modules can be connected thereto in series, and a rotationmechanism on the portion to be connected to the connection portion forchanging a direction of an input member.
 2. The operation deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of operation modulescomprises: identification information storing means for storingidentification information for identifying a type of the operationmodule, and wherein the main body comprises identification informationacquiring means for acquiring the identification information from theidentification information storing means contained in each of theoperation modules connected directly or indirectly to the main body. 3.The operation device according to claim 1, wherein the main bodycomprises: order discriminating means for discriminating an order of theoperation modules connected to the main body in series.
 4. The operationdevice according to claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of operationmodules comprises: a signal line located between the portion to beconnected to the connection portion and the additional connectionportion; and a voltmeter for measuring a voltage at a predeterminedposition on the signal line, wherein the main body comprises a powersource for applying, from one end side thereof, a predetermined voltageto the signal lines of the operation modules connected in series, andwherein the order discriminating means discriminates the order of theoperation modules connected to the main body in series based on thevoltage measured by each of the voltmeters.
 5. The operation deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of operationmodules is configured to connect to the main body or another one of theplurality of other operation modules in a plurality of directions. 6.The operation device according to claim 5, further comprising:determination means for determining the direction of the input member.7. The operation device according to claim 6, wherein the at least oneof the plurality of operation modules comprises a sensor for detecting aposture of the at least one of the plurality of operation modules,wherein the main body comprises a sensor for detecting a posture of themain body, and wherein the determination means determines the directionof the input member provided on the at least one of the plurality ofoperation modules with respect to the main body, based on a result ofthe detection by the sensor in the main body and a result of thedetection by the sensor in the at least one of the plurality ofoperation modules.